Residents in Travis County received their property tax appraisal notices and found an increase of approximately 9 percent.
“It’s positive if you’re looking to sell, it’s a really good sellers’ market. If you’re looking to buy it’s a little more difficult,” said Marya Crigler, chief appraiser for the Travis County Appraisal District.
The median price for a single family home in Travis County increased 9 percent to approximately $263,000. The statewide median price for a home, according to Zillow, is around $153,000.
“Our supply of housing has been below two months, six months is considered a stabilized market,” Crigler said. “So we’ve got a real imbalance in terms of the amount of supply of homes compared to the demand that we have for homes.”
While the appraisal shows an increased value in homes, Crigler said it does not necessarily mean a homeowner’s property tax will increase.
“As appraised values go up tax rates should go down if government spending doesn’t change – a lot depends on the tax rates that get set by the taxing entities,” she said.
If government spending does not increase, the effective rate calculated this year will be lower. This does not happen in many instances.
People who disagree with the market value of their property can protest with the Appraisal Review Board. Those wishing to do so must fill out the form on the back of the appraisal and return it by May 31 or 30 days after the notice was mailed, whichever comes first.
The appraisal district said it received 107,000 protests in 2015 and is expecting just as many in 2016.